“Here’s the things that you should do.
Doing them is up to you.
Don’t do too much or too little.
It’s all spelled out — jot and tittle.
I’ve done my job. Now you do yours.
You’ll find there are no magic cures.
Good luck. Work hard. I’ll see you soon,”
With that, the surgeon left the room.
Empowerment.
This week’s W3 prompt comes on the heels of my total hip replacement. Here’s what POW Dennis Johnstone challenged us to do. He called it “Let the noun wait.”
This week’s prompt invites you to write toward something, rather than starting from it. You’ll be building pressure, rhythm, and meaning without naming your subject until the final line.
Step 1: Choose an abstract noun
Pick a single abstract noun that carries weight, mystery, or tension for you—something like liberty, danger, truth, love, exile, justice, forgiveness, joy, grief, silence…
Don’t use it until your poem’s final line.
Step 2: Delay the subject
Start each line with a description or action that leads us toward the noun, not from it. This is called left-branching syntax—it means delaying the main subject or verb.
You’re working with delay, accumulation, and unfolding. The noun you’ve chosen arrives only at the end. Until then, build around it, toward it, beneath it. Let readers feel its shape before they hear its name.
Hot Dogs and Marmalade 